I have Malwarebytes installed but it won't allow me to update and therefore, won't run the scan, so I'm not able to include the log in this post. I installed Farbar RST and Security Analysis and also ran the ESET Online Scanner to get logs (see below). I hope these help. I used to use Spybot S&D as well, but it encountered the same problem that Malwarebytes was having with not being able to update. I followed instructions that I found online for checking the application's settings in Run > Services but it wouldn't let me change the status for either application. So, I'm kinda stuck. My laptop is getting increasingly slower and I'm at my wits end with how to fix it. What can I do? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am posting the logs (that I'm able to create at the moment) below. Please let me know if you need anything else.

Some set of instructions may be long or you can stay without Internet connection for a while so I suggest printing out each set of instructions or copy them to a Notepad file and reading the entire post before proceeding. It will make following them easier.

Your computer is infected with a variant of a SmartService Rootkit. A rootkit is one of the most difficult types of malware to find and remove. You may want to read more about this type of infection here.

Please read the instructions carefully and follow the directions in the order listed. We will have to deal with this infection step by step.

For now, in Normal mode do this please:

Right click on the FRST64.exe icon and select Run as administrator to start the tool;
Highlight and copy the following text and paste it inside the 'Search' box area of FRST;

Now please read carefully the following instructions and if you don't understand something, please STOP and ask before proceed.

You will have to run a scan with FRST from the Windows Recovery Environment (RE).

But first you will need to have access to a uninfected computer and a USB Flash Drive.

Please note: The USB Flash Drive can only be inserted in the infected computer if it is either shutdown, or in the Windows RE (Recovery Environment). Otherwise, the infection will mess with the files on the USB.

Preparing the USB Flash Drive (on a clean computer)

Plug-in the USB Flash Drive on a clean computer and format it before using it ('Quick Format' is enough).

Access the Internet and download FRST64.exe from a clean computer (Don't use the FRST64.exe file stored in the infected computer):

Click on Command Prompt to open the command promptNote:If you can't access the Recovery Environment using the F8 method above, you'll need to create a Windows installation or repair media. It can be made on the computer itself or another one running the same version of Windows as the one you plan to use it on. For more information, check out this tutorial on SevenForums.

To enter the Recovery Environment with Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, follow the instructions in this tutorial on EightForumsNote:If you can't access the Recovery Environment using the method above, you'll need to create a Windows installation or repair media. It can be made on the computer itself or another one running the same version of Windows as the one you plan to use it on. For more information, check out this tutorial.

To enter the Recovery Environment with Windows 10, follow the instructions in this tutorial on TenForumsNote:If you can't access the Recovery Environment using the method above, you'll need to create a Windows installation or repair media. It can be made on the computer itself or another one running the same version of Windows as the one you plan to use it on. For more information, check out this tutorial on TenForums.

Note: Once in the Windows RE, plug the USB Flash Drive in the computer.

Once in the Command Prompt

In the command prompt, type notepad and press on Enter;

Notepad will open. Click on the File menu and select Open;

Click on Computer/This PC, find the letter for your USB Flash Drive, then close the window and Notepad;

In the command prompt, type e:\frst.exe (for the x64 version, type e:\frst64.exe and press on Enter;

I apologize for dropping the ball with this. Life caught up with me and I hadn't touched the laptop in over a month. By the time I got back around to turning it back on, the loading screen was offering the option to Reset Windows so I used it. At least I'm able to use the laptop again. The performance had degraded to the point that it was simply unusable; wouldn't load or anything. So, I apologize for the long delay. Resetting removed a lot of the software that I used but that's fine, I can always reinstall. I used the Reset option to keep my files and it seems to have.

At any rate, I followed your instructions above and here's the FRST.txt log:

The fact that the Operating System had been reset contributed to eliminate the initial infection. Still and once you chose to reset the system by maintaining all data files, that could not be enough to clean all infected items. That's why I asked you to run a new scan with FRST and post a new set of logs for my review.

The Farbar tool (FRST.exe file) produces two files which are the FRST.txt and Addition.txt.

You can find those logs in the same location as FRST.exe file, which is on the Desktop.

Please open the FRST.txt file and copy/paste its whole content in to your reply.

Then locate and open the Addition.txt file and copy/paste its whole content in your reply.

Make sure you select the entire content of each file.

You can post the content of both in the same reply.

Finally and before you add your reply please check it out to see if any of the content is cut off by clicking on the 'Preview Post' button.

Description: The program SearchUI.exe version 10.0.16299.98 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Security and Maintenance control panel.

Description: The application-specific permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID

{D63B10C5-BB46-4990-A94F-E40B9D520160}

and APPID

{9CA88EE3-ACB7-47C8-AFC4-AB702511C276}

to the user ZC\zC SID (S-1-5-21-3369261439-609741471-2718208431-1001) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Unavailable SID (Unavailable). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool.

Error: (06/16/2018 09:14:27 PM) (Source: TPM) (EventID: 15) (User: )

Description: The device driver for the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) encountered a non-recoverable error in the TPM hardware, which prevents TPM services (such as data encryption) from being used. For further help, please contact the computer manufacturer.

Error: (06/16/2018 03:40:59 PM) (Source: TPM) (EventID: 12) (User: )

Description: The device driver for the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) encountered an error in the TPM hardware, which might prevent some applications using TPM services from operating correctly. Please restart your computer to reset the TPM hardware. For further assistance on this hardware issue, please contact the computer manufacturer for more information.

Error: (06/16/2018 03:38:46 PM) (Source: TPM) (EventID: 12) (User: )

Description: The device driver for the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) encountered an error in the TPM hardware, which might prevent some applications using TPM services from operating correctly. Please restart your computer to reset the TPM hardware. For further assistance on this hardware issue, please contact the computer manufacturer for more information.

Description: The application-specific permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID

{6B3B8D23-FA8D-40B9-8DBD-B950333E2C52}

and APPID

{4839DDB7-58C2-48F5-8283-E1D1807D0D7D}

to the user NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE SID (S-1-5-19) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Unavailable SID (Unavailable). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool.

Description: The application-specific permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID

{6B3B8D23-FA8D-40B9-8DBD-B950333E2C52}

and APPID

{4839DDB7-58C2-48F5-8283-E1D1807D0D7D}

to the user NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE SID (S-1-5-19) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Unavailable SID (Unavailable). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool.

Reason: Antimalware protection has stopped functioning for an unknown reason. In some instances, restarting the service may resolve the problem.

CodeIntegrity:

===================================

Date: 2018-06-03 14:53:03.399

Description:

Code Integrity determined that a process (\Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe) attempted to load \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbae64.dll that did not meet the Store signing level requirements.

Date: 2018-06-03 14:53:03.343

Description:

Code Integrity determined that a process (\Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe) attempted to load \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbae64.dll that did not meet the Store signing level requirements.

Date: 2018-06-03 14:53:03.304

Description:

Code Integrity determined that a process (\Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe) attempted to load \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbae64.dll that did not meet the Store signing level requirements.

Date: 2018-06-03 14:53:03.209

Description:

Code Integrity determined that a process (\Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdge.exe) attempted to load \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbae64.dll that did not meet the Store signing level requirements.

Date: 2018-06-03 14:53:03.152

Description:

Code Integrity determined that a process (\Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe) attempted to load \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbae64.dll that did not meet the Store signing level requirements.

Date: 2018-06-03 14:53:03.112

Description:

Code Integrity determined that a process (\Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe) attempted to load \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbae64.dll that did not meet the Store signing level requirements.

Date: 2018-06-03 14:53:03.034

Description:

Code Integrity determined that a process (\Device\HarddiskVolume3\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe) attempted to load \Device\HarddiskVolume3\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbae64.dll that did not meet the Store signing level requirements.

To answer your question... for the most part, everything seems to be working ok. Haven't really had any issues yet. Is there any other program I should run to see if it finds anything that needs removing?

NOTICE: This script was written specifically for this user, for use on this particular machine. Running this on another machine may cause damage to your operating system.

Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard at the same time. This will open the RUN BOX.
Type Notepad and click the OK button.
Please copy the entire contents of the code box below. To do this highlight the contents of the box and right click on it and select Copy.
Paste this into the open Notepad.

Save the file as fixlist.txt in to the same location as FRST.
Right-click the FRST icon and select Run as administrator to run the tool.
Click the Fix button only once and wait.
When finished FRST will generate a log (Fixlog.txt) on the same folder as FRST is running from. Please post its content to your next reply.

NOTE. It's important that both files, FRST and fixlist.txt are in the same location or the fix will not work.

If for some reason the tool needs a restart, please make sure you let the system restart normally. After that let the tool complete its run.

Now I would like you to run an online scan with ESET Online Scanner. This scan can take several hours to complete but it's worth it.

The List threats option is only available if ESET Online Scanner found something. Otherwise it means your computer appears to be clean and free of malware!

Now it's time to search for updates. Outdated programs contains security vulnerabilities that are exploited by malware in order to infect the computer without the user's knowledge. Usually this is one of the ways that more contributes to infect computers.